I hope that you are all enjoying these wonderful days of summer, and I for one, have been a busy girl working in the garden, finishing a rain barrel project, and canning tomatoes for salsa, blueberries for jam, and whatever else I can get my hands on! 🙂 Unfortunately, I have over done it a bit and have to sit, relax, and wear this lovely boot for a while!
So, I thought that I would give an update on a post I did called, “A Teen And His Garden” which is about a friend of mine, Matt, who is only 18-years old, and already a Mr. Green Thumb in his own right! I have to go back to this past Christmas, and mention, that while most teenagers want an Xbox, clothes, or gift cards, Matt wanted a greenhouse. Now, I’m not talking about a little itty, bitty, Gardman Greenhouse, like the one I got below. 🙂
Gardman 4-Tier Mini Greenhouse
His is a 6 ft. X 8 ft. walk in that is similar to this Palram Nature Greenhouse available at Amazon.com . To make the greenhouse last for quite a while, Matt (with a little help from his dad) built it on a solid foundation made from pressure treated wood boards, that were leveled and squared, and then filled in the center with rock. Here is a pic of his greenhouse which is right next to his garden!
After it was constructed, Matt applied a waterproof, clear, window caulk all the way around every panel for sturdiness and to keep the draft out. The greenhouse was then insulated with greenhouse grade bubble wrap on the inside, and to save some money on heating the greenhouse, he went with a method called Passive Solar Energy. He put 5 large, black, plastic garbage cans into the greenhouse, and filled them with water. The sun then heated the water up all day and then overnight the water released the heat energy, slowly keeping the greenhouse warmer overnight. Pretty cool huh?
As you can see, it has worked really well, and Matt was able to grow around $180 worth of tomato plants from seed, and this doesn’t include the swiss chard, green peppers, stevia, and herbs! This is some SUPER gardening savings!
In my next post, I will share how an inexpensive fence was built around the garden to protect it from these bears, (I mean dogs)! 🙂 I think these guys really love Matt’s garden too! Until next time super savers!
If your interested in getting a greenhouse for your backyard here is the link to the Palram Nature Greenhouse and many other varieties at Amazon.
Just so ya know that some of the links above are my affiliate links, and I may get a small commission if you decide to buy. I appreciate your continued support, and I hope that you get the green thumb bug this year.
